Kofi Annan and Syrian President Bashar Assad meet in Damascus.

[In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, meets with Kofi Annan, the United Nations special envoy to Syria, in Damascus, Syria, on Saturday March 10, 2012. The state-run news agency SANA reported that talks between Assad and Annan were « positive » but there were no further details on the meeting. Syrian troops pushed ahead with a new assault on the northern region of Idlib on Saturday, shelling one of the centers of the uprising against President Bashar Assad’s rule and sending families fleeing for safety as armed rebels tried to fend off the attack. Thick black smoke billowed into the sky. (AP Photo/SANA)] *** [] ** Usable by LA and DC Only **